FateHiME
by Alex T. Wallman
Summary: Shirou takes Tate Yuuichi's place At Fuuka Academy. Awesome, WAFF, GAR, and Hilarity Ensue. This is the Mangaverse Mai-HiME and True Ending Unlimited Blade Works Shirou. Rated T. For Now.
1. Chapter 1

Fate/ HiME

By: Alex T. Wallman

Disclaimer: I own nothing, Dood.

Author's Note: Hi, I know that some of you are probably going ask how is this going to work. It's your standard 'Shirou takes X's place' story, in this case Shirou takes the place of Tate Yuuichi. This story follows the True Ending of the Unlimited Blade Works path. Now as for how, when Tate got the scar on his arm when he was protecting Shiho, instead of walking away with just a scar the other guys killed him and Shiho was rescued by Shirou. Shiho ended up imprinting on him when he helped her recover from the shock of what happened. As for why Shirou is attending Fuuka Academy, let's just say that he and Rin got in a fight.

So far as The Mai-HiME side goes, this is based on the manga, which I prefer. Anyone wondering if I have plans for an Otome crossover, PM me for details.

Now then on with the story and remember to review!

~}{~

"WELCOME, EMIYA SHIROU-KUN!" The person who had greeted me at the dormitory entrance, grabbed my hand, and began pumping it up and down while smacking it along with more shouting, "WELCOME TO FUUKA ACADEMY'S BOYS' DORMITORY! I'M TAKEDA MASASHI! I'M IN MY THIRD YEAR OF HIGHSCHOOL, CLASS G!"

"N-Nice to meet you…" I gave the other teen an awkward smile as he proceeded to wrap his arm around my shoulders, dragging me down to his level.

"WE'RE NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOURS, IF THERE'S ANYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, JUST ASK ME!" I flinched as he shouted in my ear, I've experienced some rather strange greetings but this one took the cake for loudest and most enthusiastic, unless you count Berserker's attempt to bash me in half as a greeting. I had to wonder about that girl that I had seen when I arrived; did she attend Fuuka Academy as well?

After helping me move my stuff in to my room while not lowering his voice to reasonable levels, Masashi went back to his own room leaving me to put my room into an order that would suit me.

~}{~

I was charging to the school at full tilt, my legs reinforced to give me more speed, due to my not waking up on time. That had never happened when I still lived in Fuyuki. I was probably just tired from moving, it's not like I need Sakura or Rin to wake me up. Nope, not it at all.

Anyways, as I ran towards the school I was stuck by an explosion of all things. When I turned to look at the cause, I saw the girl that I had seen the day before with circlets of fire on her wrists and ankles, fighting a longhaired girl who was wielding two strangely shaped pistols. Not the strangest thing I've seen but it ranks in the upper echelons. Did I mention their blatant destruction of school property?

"JEEZ, CLASS IS ABOUT TO START! YOU'RE PERSISTENT NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE!" The shorthaired girl who I had seen yesterday shouted at the other girl, who responded, "The way you are… how you speak like you're detached from the world! YOUR ATTITUDE! I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU!"

The longhaired girl fired her guns with that declaration out of the way, and strafed the girl who was floating, "YOU'RE NOT QUALIFIED TO BE CALLED A HiME!"

The fire-wielding brunette created a vortex of flames around herself, which caught each of the bullets and repelled them. This meant that I had to dodge some of them but it was interesting to watch the two fight, they were both obviously self-taught and they both made a lot of unnecessary movements but it was a learning experience.

"Nice try, Kuga-san!" Was crowed from a window on the second floor, when I looked at the school I realized that there were a number of people watching which meant that this was a normal thing to them. This looked like magic to me, and I swore that if Zelretch had anything to do with this I would be very unhappy. I also quickly realized why so many of the males were watching with rapt attention; this was because the two were destroying one another's clothes. Then the two of them noticed me.

The longhaired blackette jumped the bush separating myself from the fray while the brunette shouted, "NATSUKI!"

It was at that point that I found a pistol in my face.

"Whose 'Key' are you?" the girl asked me as she advanced towards me, her pistol aimed at my forehead, "TELL ME! WHOSE 'KEY' ARE YOU!"

"I really have no idea what you're talking about, I only transferred here today…"

"ALL THE MORE REASON! THIS ISN'T A NORMAL TIME TO TRANSFER! NOW SPEAK UP OR I'LL SHOOT YOU!" The girl shouted as she pressed her pistol against my forehead, I wasn't too worried because I had already reinforced my body, and if need be I could grow blades beneath my skin to block the bullet. It would hurt like Hell but I could do it.

"Stop it, Natsuki! That person has nothing to…" The brunette shouted as he moved towards the two of us. My attention was drawn away from her when the ground at my feet lit up and something began drawing from my prana. The blackette was also feeling it, but I didn't hear what she was saying due to the brunette grabbing my arm and dragging me away while shouting, "What are you doing? Run!"

The feeling of my prana being drained subsided as we moved away from the other girl. The brunette and I found a place to rest beneath a tree that was further into the forest, where the brunette dismissed her strange items or weapons and sat beneath the tree. I began looking around, but was interrupted by the brunette, "Ah, you're bleeding!"

I looked down at the arm she was gesturing at and looked at the small cut that had been gouged there, "No, it's just a small scratch I should be fine in a bit, probably won't even have a scar!"

"But you need to get that looked after!" The girl protested.

"Rather than myself, it would be better to worry about yourself. I wasn't the one in the fight." I pointed out to the girl, "but I have to ask, what was that earlier? When you ha those flame bracelets?"

"That's right, you said that you only transferred today. This is what they call an 'Element', A 'Hi'ghly-advanced 'M'aterialising 'E'quipment. The ability to materialize this meta-substance is called 'HiME', this was created by that power." The girl explained to me as she showed me a bracelet made up of three connected magatama and three beads.

"And a 'Key' would be what?" I asked as I eyed the bracelet.

"They basically amplify the power of 'HiME', a booster would be an appropriate approximation." The girl answered, not looking like she really understood it. I was working towards my own conclusions when a group of children crowded in front of us, startling myself and the girl. Seriously, were they ninja children or something?

"Suspicious! Just the two of them, in a place like this?" And other such remarks emanated from the crowd of children as the brunette stood up and asked them, "What are you all doing out here?"

"OUTDOOR DRAWING CLASS!" Came the happy cry from the kids, who were quickly cut off by the brunette once again, "Is that right? Well, you should all get back to your teacher!"

The brunette stretched as the children headed off, "Well then, we better get going as well."

"Listen, if you need help with anything just ask me, call it thanks for the info and the save." I told the girl, secretly hinting that I saw her crying the day before. She did not pick up on the hint.

"Thanks! But we better hurry, class has probably started already…" The girl said, but was interrupted by a flurry of bullets cutting a line between the two of us. The longhaired girl, Natsuki, leapt out of the trees and put herself between the brunette and I, "Just where were you planning to take this guy, Mai?"

"Natsuki! That guy has nothing to do with this! Don't get other people involved!" The brunette, Mai, shouted at Natsuki as she activated her 'Element' and released a rather interesting pyrotechnics display.

"Nothing to do with this? Whether he does or not, I'll let you confirm it with your own eyes!" Natsuki stated as she pressed one her pistols, her 'Element', against my chin. I was not just going to be pulled into something random so I tried to interrupt, "excuse me, but I would appreciate it if…"

I was cut off by some sort of ice pillar that engulfed Natsuki and then shattered, revealing that Natsuki had summoned some sort of robot wolf. Natsuki looked at Mai, I think she was crying tears of happiness, and stated, "this is my 'Child'. DURAN!"

"Well, I'm not going to lie but this is a first. I have never seen anything like this, and can only think of one wolf that would rank higher than this 'Duran' on the coolness scale if it weren't homicidal. Or genocidal. Never the less, Duran is pretty cool." I said as I studied the robotic wolf. It had turrets, but artillery never really was my style. Give me a sword any day and I'm happier then if you gave me a gun. I know that I compared it to Primate Murderer but Primate Murderer would be awesome if it didn't like the taste of human blood.

"You're damn right Duran's cool! He's our 'Child' after all!" Natsuki exclaimed as she turned to me and then continued, "Because the 'Key' has to be within a certain distance to be effective, it's called the 'Territory', you are no longer aloud to leave my side again! From this day forward you are Slave-kun!"

"No thank you." I deadpanned, but Natsuki wasn't listening to me. Instead, she yelled, "Duran! Load Chrome Cartridge!"

Duran went through the steps of loading a cartridge and aimed its turrets at Mai, firing when Natsuki commanded, "FIRE!"

Mai tried to block the shot with her flames but wasn't expecting me to get in the way, I may believe in honor but firing turrets for the sake of a schoolyard brawl is too much. I visualized the weapon in my head and released into the physical world. When I had first used this Conceptual weapon, I hadn't been able to summon it in its entirety but after a year of training, I could even break it. I had traced the shield of Ajax, which had blocked the spear of Hector. I called out its name as it manifested in the real world, "RHO AIAS!"

The shot that Duran had fired impacted against Rho Aias and the two warred against one another for a few moments, until Duran's shot dissipated. I released the prana making up the Conceptual weapon and turned to Natsuki who was staring at me like I had just kicked her cat. Then I spoke, "You know, I was fine with you two having your schoolyard brawl but you seem to be forgetting that there are CHILDREN in that direction. And not only that, but that attack likely would have KILLED Mai-san. Are you ready to have that sort of blood on your hands?"

Natsuki on the other hand was too stunned by Rho Aias and could only say, "Y-You used 'HiME'."

"That wasn't an 'Element' that was willpower. This is an 'Element'." I said as I grabbed Mai's bracelet and showed it to Natsuki for redundancy's sake. It was a Bad Idea.

A tornado of flame erupted around us and when it dissipated, I heard Mai say, "This is… my 'Child'… Kagutsuchi."

I steeled myself to see another robotic animal, but was quite pleasantly surprised to see a dragon with a sword through its maw for no apparent reason. But I know that if I rode Kagutsuchi into battle I would have been so qualified for the Rider class. Unfortunately, it was at this point in time that Kagutsuchi decided to develop sibling rivalry or something similar because it fired its laser or beam or whatever it was but it looked a lot like Excalibur being unleashed so that's what I shall call it. Anyway, Natsuki and Duran jumped out of the way of the Excalibeam and landed on the roof of the school while the beam went on to leave a path of destruction in its wake.

"Well it seems you have managed to bring this to an end safely." A child's voice stated as Mai turned and exclaimed, "Board Chairman?"

What I saw was a young girl in wheelchair being pushed by a maid. I would have been slightly reminded of Illya if it weren't for the fact that this girl's smile didn't make it look like she was going to cut my throat while I slept. The girl smiled up at me and spoke, "I am the Board Chairman of Fuuka Academy, Kazahana Mashiro. Emiya Shirou-san, welcome to Fuuka Academy.


	2. Chapter 2  In Which THINGS happen

Chapter 2: In which THINGS happen

Author: Alex T. Wallman

Disclaimer: I own Nothing, Dood.

Author's Note: Okay, so I have some reviews to answer.

InfinityAtmo: There's a chance that after Shiho has her PRINCESS crystal broken that Shirou might summon her Child, but I'm still thinking about that one.

ExpERieNCed: If you love characters with psychological trauma than my Shiho is going to be a favorite. Seriously, some of the things that she'll do creep me out.

Farmer Kyle: Not a problem. When it comes down to it, people like you who write reviews like that can end up saving almost unsalvageable fics. As far as spell-check goes, I try to use it but when I'm writing I just forget, but thank you for the reminder.

RealmOfEmptiness: According to Fate/HiME, when Mai/Natsuki are within Unlimited Blade Works it counts as them being within his territory and therefore Kagutsuchi and Duran can be summoned from anywhere within the Reality Marble regardless of the distance from Shirou. So far as Shirou tracing the Elements, /BEYOND HERE IS A SPOILER ALERT!/ when they discover the gateway to the Princess Star, Shirou will come into contact with one of the crystals and gain the ability to Trace Elements (yes this includes a certain sword), and if you want further spoilers, after the Princess Star lands and Shirou comes into contact with it he will gain the ability to Trace The Sword of Ea. I'm working on finding a beta reader now.

korat5: This Shirou has been going out with Rin for a year. Do you think that anyone would be able to go out with Rin without having some behavioral changes?

RoyalTwinFangs: Unfortunately, Shirou will have no way to have come into contact with Arondight due to his never having met the Berserker of the Fourth Heaven's Feel (Lancelot Du Lac), the only way that he might gain the ability to Trace Arondight would be through Zelretch who generally doesn't do things that don't benefit himself. Or amuse him.

Victoriousvillain: If the trolling has already gone up to eleven then by the end of this fic it will have gone Beyond the Impossible.

Now then, I'm considering making Shirou Mikoto's Key. Of course, it would be after some bonding between her and Shirou. Your thoughts?

Anyways, reviews are welcome for you to give suggestions or ask questions, anything goes.

Also, this is an_Internal OutrAAjus Friench Axscent__, which_ meansthink like the French from the Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

~}{~

I eyed the room that Mai and I had been ushered into by the Board Chairman and her maid. It was your average board chairman office, maybe a bit brighter due to the large windows lining one of the walls, and the maid. Why did the Board Chairman dress her secretary up as a maid?

Actually… it might be the secretary's hobby.

"So, you're the Board Chairman? I've seen stranger things." I said as the young girl reintroduced herself, I mean my older sister by adoption looked and acted like a nine year old, I doubt that anything the Board Chairman can do will surprise me.

"She's also a sixth year elementary student here." Mai whispered to me. I just nodded; it made sense, which would make it one of the few things that I had witnessed at Fuuka Academy that followed the rules of the 'normal' world.

"The 'HiME' are girls with the ability to materialize the meta-substance that is capable of fighting the 'Orphans,' monsters that plague this academy." Mashiro explained with a weary look on her face, which meant that 'Orphan' appearances were common, and were with either high casualties or can cause significant damage to the school buildings.

"I have been gathering those who show signs of 'HiME' capabilities and have been organizing against the 'Orphans.' We currently have no idea as to what goals the 'Orphans' have buy we cannot just stand by and let them wreak havoc. I suppose that Tokiha-san has already explained to you that she and Kuga-san are HiME, and has explained that it is difficult to fight 'Orphans' with just their Elements." Mashiro was almost glowing with how wide her smile was at that point and was wrong about Mai explaining the last part, but she pressed forward, "so it would be better if they could summon their 'Childs,' which is…

"Where I come in as a 'Key,' and due to the fact that both Kuga-san and Tokiha-san were surprised to see their 'Childs' I assume that 'Keys' are rare." I had interrupted the young girl because it was obvious that she had information that she wasn't sharing but I figured I might as well show that I knew how things went. I had survived the Heaven's Feel; this should be a cakewalk.

"Well then, I'll be counting you in the future but right now I have to get to class." Mai said as she left the room leaving me with the Chairman for a moment, who said, "you are very good with girls, aren't you Emiya-san?"

"Who knows," I chuckled as I left the office, thinking to my latest fight with Rin, "who knows."

~}{~

"Damn it. This map is impossible to read." I muttered as I trundled through the halls trying to find my class. I mean the place was damn huge, way bigger than Homuraba was. I could also hear people muttering about how I was either a 'poor soul' or a 'perverted beast' neither of which I am, I mean I have a girlfriend.

Then the screaming and stomping began. I recognized the voice and I turned slowly when I heard the roar, "YOOOOOOOOOOUUUU! PERVERTED BASTARD!"

I saw Takeda charging down the hall towards me, wearing a headband that said 'Natsuki bodyguard', and wielding a shinai. He leapt towards me in an attempt to smash my head, but it was far too telegraphed for me not to dodge. "DIE EMIYAAAAAAAAA!"

"I would actually prefer to stay alive, thank you for the offer though." I said as I tried to edge away from the growing crowd that was letting out indignant cries about me doing something to their 'Onee-sama'. The unfortunate part was that there were to many of them to dodge, despite my best efforts. I managed to dance out of the crowd of people and taunted, "really now, if you want to hit me you're going to have to hurry up because class is going to start soon."

That, as it turned out, was a Bad Idea and I decided that doing things Rin's way was not going to be useful in this situation. I took a page from the book Kotomine had forced on Lancer… and ran.

I could hear the horde chasing me and couldn't help but laugh at the irony; that I, who had stood toe to toe with Heroic Spirits and won, was now running from a group of outraged high school students.

~}{~

I ended up hiding out in the infirmary. The nurse had been nice enough until she summoned her Element; a stethoscope looking device that I assumed was used to heal injuries, and then hugged me to her chest. Naturally, I protested, "you know, I'm all for hugs but I barely know you."

"I just thought that because you summoned Tokiha-san and Kuga-san's "Childs', that you may be able to summon mine." She explained as she held my face to her chest.

"I see, but it does not seem to be working so could you please let me go?" I asked, and when she retracted her arms, I lifted my head out of her ample chest. She was still smiling cheerfully when I looked at her and was compelled to say, "seeing as we will be working together to combat the 'Orphans' in the future, we might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Emiya Shirou, you?"

"Sagisawa Yohko, and I must say in the time you've been here you've wrought more havoc than a few 'Orphan' attacks!" Yohko laughed, obviously experiencing schadenfreude at my expense. My eye twitched.

"If you think about it, I was only indirectly responsible for any of that. I mean, I didn't know what HiMEs, 'Childs', 'Orphans', and 'Keys' so I really had no way to stop any of that from happening." I retorted.

"And the Horde of people that was chasing you?" She asked, a smug grin plastered across her face.

I shrugged and replied, "They were attacking me because they thought that I was going to take advantage of Kuga-san, which I won't because…"

"Sensei! Takumi had another spasm!" Mai shouted as she burst into the infirmary, a sickly middle school student slung over her shoulder. Yohko sprung into action and quickly led Mai and the middle school student to a bed where they laid him down. I guess that explains why Mai looked so stressed.

"I'm sorry for being a bother Onee-chan, I felt that today would be a good day, so I think I'll be okay…" the boy, Takumi murmured from where he lay.

"I told you before, don't worry about it." Mai interrupted as she reached her hand down to wipe some sweat off Takumi's cheek, wearing a comforting smile on her face.

"I know, but…" he started only to be cut off by Mai a _second time_, "It's okay Takumi, just get some rest."

"All right…" Takumi trailed off, as Mai closed the curtains around the bed he was lying in. As Mai passed by, I looked at her and said, "He's a lucky kid, having an Onee-chan who worries about him…"

"What _would_ you know about that, you probably have your perfect house with your perfect family!" Mai snarled at me but cut short when she looked at my face. I don't know what she saw when she looked at me but I said, "My home is nice enough although it feels pretty empty when I don't have guests, and so far as my family goes I don't have a mother, a father, or any siblings. The closest thing I had to a maternal influence growing up was the neighbor's daughter and she's not that much older than me or a positive role model."

"A-Ah…" She murmured as she stumbled out of the infirmary, most likely shocked by my casual revelation.

"You are aware that you will have to tell the other people in the Anti-Orphan Unit about all of your past eventually, or are you stalling because you fear their reaction to the scars you wear?" Yohko asked, her voice was neither playful nor teasing instead; it was a measuring tone or perhaps an analytical one. I looked over at her and shrugged, "Who knows? Perhaps I'm waiting for them to earn my trust?"

"Then I recommend that you hurry up and give it to them, if you hold back anything and that hurts them the blood will be on your hands." It wasn't a question it was a statement. I could hear her say the period.

"I'll dye my hands crimson for the sake of others if I have to." I snorted and went to leave when Yohko's phone rang. I only paused for a moment and it was enough for me to notice a pungent brine smell wafting through the halls, and hear Yohko say, "An Orphan? At the pool?"

~}{~

I arrived on the roof of the school building near the pool a few minutes later than the HiMEs and Yohko did, but that was only because I stopped to pick up a tool that I could improvise into a weapon. So, I was standing on the roof studying the Orphan while I applied Alteration to a shovel that I had found in a tool shed, giving the shovel's blade an edge that would normally be impossible on a tool like a shovel. Plus, it was ironic because for once earth will conquer water.

I was right when I had assumed that it was the Orphan that was releasing the magic that smelled of sea brine. This meant that I could locate the Orphan's faster than the others could, but the fact that they came with distinct scents surprised me although it might give me an insight into their abilities.

I scaled the fence surrounding the roof and as I took aim at Orphan, I couldn't help but think about the Old Seasoning commercial that I had seen when I had flown to England to visit Rin. I leapt off the roof with a shout of, "SWAN DIVE! Into an Orphan."

The shovel cut through the water that the Orphan was using as a medium to terrorize the other students and managed to cut through what appeared to be the core or main body of the Orphan, but that didn't matter at that moment because I was too busy grabbing the last girl that the Orphan was holding hostage. I threw the girl to the HiMEs on deck and trudged through the water that had sloshed back into the pool when the Orphan lost cohesion. I shook myself slightly as I got onto the pool deck, the HiMEs were looking at me with mixed looks of confusion, and gratitude when I asked, "How was that for a dynamic entry?"

"You killed an Orphan…" Mai said.

"Yes, I did." I nodded.

"With a shovel…" Natsuki threw in her to yen as well.

"Indeed, could you please remind me to put back where I found it." I said as I looked at the shovel lying in the foot deep water that was now the shallow end of the pool.

The scruffy looking middle school student HiME looked at Mai and asked, "Is that possible?"

"No Mikoto, it shouldn't be." Mai answered, still looking rather stunned by the very thing she was denying the plausibility of.

I took the opportunity to grab the shovel when the others weren't focused on me, and went back to standing with them. The silence was rather awkward until the Board Chairman decided to show up.

"So who defeated the Orphan?" The Board Chairman's secretary, Fumi, asked as she and Mashiro looked at the HiMEs and myself gathered on the pool deck. As one the HiMEs turned and pointed at me, I just turned to Mashiro and Fumi, gave a wry smile, and rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

"Emiya-san, am I to understand that you defeated an Orphan with a… shovel, rather than an Element?" Mashiro asked me a look somewhere between childish curiosity and incredulity, "May I ask how?"

I just grinned like the Cheshire Cat and gave the answer that they would (quite a while) later realize to be true, "Magic."

This was answered by face faults all around, except Mashiro who just face palmed.

~}{~

(ENTER THIRD PERSON POV)

And now for something completely different.

The Executioners are among the few magi that actually can use modern technology in an appropriate manner without someone coaching them or ending up destroying it. One such Executioner is Bazett Fraga McRemitz, who stayed with Shirou during her recovery following the end of the Grail War. Shall we take a peek at the most recent web page she visited?

Here it is:

.

There were numerous pieces of crumpled paper around the computer.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: In which there are SHENANIGANS because the STUFF ran late

Disclaimer: I still don't own either of them, Doods.

Author's Note: Here we go for the third chapter, I'm just pumping these out, huh? Anyway, I want to point somethings out; the first being that Bazett's scene was supposed to be a big lipped alligator moment and that if you want to know what the thing you were going to see was search 'Trogdor'. Secondly, when I upload a chapter and a character (Masashi) uses multiple exclamation marks they are deleted so tack four or five more exclamations on the end of his sentences.

And now onto response corner!

ExpERieNCed: I said that Shirou could Trace the Sword of Ea not wield it, meaning that he knows how to but doesn't have the necessary prana reserves. It would take a prana exchange ritual of **EPIC** proportions.

RoyalTwinFangs: Zelretch is one of the most powerful mages in the Nasuverse. In fact, he is considered to be the second most powerful being, preceded by a Physical God, and followed by Gilgamesh. Do you really think that a dimension hopping, reality-warping vampire would just appear in front of Shirou and show him a powerful Noble Phantasm?

RealmOfEmptiness: You ask about Shirou's harem? Then I guess that you don't understand what I call the 'Emiya Shirou Inversion of the Law of Heroine Conservation', which pretty much means that if Shirou is near a group of women who do not have romantic attachments to anyone in any way, they will inevitably be drawn into Shirou's harem. Even robots.

Nasha Rei-kun: I actually forgot about Mikoto at the time, but thanks to your review, I realized this and now have a plan. So far as people finding out about Shirou's magic, I have plans for that as well as an unexpected addition to Shirou's harem. You mentioned Shirou acting like Tate; I'll try to avoid that in the future. I knew that most likely you were of the male identifying gender because you used 'kun' rather than the cutesy 'chan' that those who identify as being of the female gender seem to prefer.

Thanatos: I know that Shirou uses magecraft because magic is what one would consider one of the True Magics, meaning that I meant it to be interpreted as a joke, which you pointed out. I am sorry about my mistake with Bazett and the White Beast, I shall endeavor in the future to be correct in their naming. As for Shirou breaking all the rules and becoming the Key for every HiME, it is possible but based on what I've seen the HiME and Key need to form some sort of bond or be capable of forming a bond. Natsuki and Tate prove that point when Natsuki's Element literally rejects Tate's touch because Natsuki felt betrayed by Tate.

Nim Maj: Based on your feedback I am assuming that you have only watched the Fate/Stay Night anime or played the 'Fate' scenario of Fate/Stay Night visual Novel. Unlimited Blade Works portrays Shirou as someone who has realized the folly of his ideals but fights for them anyway. In UBW, Archer's identity is revealed to be (SPOILER) a possible future version of Shirou who was betrayed by his ideals and killed by those he tried to protect. Due to Shirou and Archer resonating, Shirou learns tracing at an exponential rate and even manages to gain his Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works. Shirou also becomes a bit more cynical due to Archer's influence, and in this case due to his dating Rin, more of a troll. The Shirou I portray also has shown to be a bit of an internal snarker, something that Shirou is revealed to be in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. In Fate/HiME, Shirou has yet to Trace a single Noble Phantasm and the reason that he's a bit louder than normal? He's dealt with Rin for a year, a person could really learn to raise their voice during that time.

Thank you all who reviewed, even if you weren't in the response corner.

For those who found the previous chapter rushed, I agree with you. The first three chapters of Mai-HiME focus mainly on Yuuichi and trying to get him established as the main character and show how he interacts with the other people in Fuuka Academy. With Shirou who is already a Badass who doesn't need to show his potential, I tried to give Yohko a little more depth, because I thought that she was a character with a good amount of potential. Such is why it turned out rushed; I apologize and shall attempt to do better in the future.

For you who are saying that Shirou admitted the existence to magic so easily, you have to remember that in the world of Mai-HiME science is very _**SERIOUS BUSINESS**_. The people at Fuuka Academy research Elements, Orphans, Childs, and HiME. They pretty much think that Shirou is trying screw with them.

Also, Luddite!Shirou will not be appearing. Seriously he grew up in this day and age and even if he doesn't own a computer of his own I have no doubt that he has experience with them due to friends or work, and he even has a television and probably a VCR or DVD player.

Also, because I can't find any info on how Mai's parents kicked the bucket I made it so they died in a fire.

In this chapter: Shirou's first Noble Phantasm is revealed!

As always, please review if you have any questions or suggestions, and enjoy the read.

~}{~

I stared at the up at where my room used to be. It used to be there because, as it turns out, when Kagutsuchi fired its/his/whatever's Excalibeam this morning, the Excalibeam hit my room and destroyed it. I heard the crowd behind me saying that it was 'divine retribution' and Takeda gave his now customary, "PERVERTED BEAST!" My eye twitched.

I thought about the fact that I had been put in the same class as Natsuki, Mai, and the HiME whose name I had yet to learn. It was because I failed my second year because of the injuries that I had sustained at the end of the Grail War that I was attending Fuuka Academy. My eye twitched a second time.

I still had the shovel that I had used to kill the Orphan because every time I tried to put it back in the storage shed someone told that it was dangerous to go alone and to take it with me. I suspect that there is something seriously wrong with the people here. My eye twitched a third time

~}{~

I sat off to the side watching as Mashiro explained to Mai and her roommate, Mikoto the scruffy HiME, what had happened to my dorm room and frankly found the entire thing somewhat surreal. I was more used to making up stories because people had invaded my home, it was an interesting change.

"Unfortunately, when Kagutsuchi fired off its attack this morning it hit Emiya-san's room and utterly destroyed it. So, until the boys' dormitory is fixed, I would appreciate it if Emiya-san could stay with you two…" Mashiro trailed off, her usual beatific smile never faltering.

"No. Just no." Mai declared her arms crossed beneath her chest while Mikoto nodded from where she stood behind Mai. I rested my face against my fist and watched as Fumi bribed Mikoto with cake, and chuckled when Mai refused to listen to Mashiro a second time.

"Well then I'll just have him stay with Kuga-san for now." Mashiro shrugged as Fumi piled cakes in front of Mikoto who was scoffing the treats down almost as fast as the maid could produce them. While Mikoto was focused on the cakes Fumi offered her a slip of paper and asked, "Could you please sign this living agreement?"

"Okay." Mikoto scrawled down her signature and went back to eating the cake in front of her. Mai jolted into a standing position and tried to reprimand Mikoto, "Mikoto, don't be bribed with cake!"

"But it's _delicious_ cake Mai! You should try some." Mikoto mumbled through a mouthful of cake as she presented the filled out page to Fumi. Mashiro's smile grew as she read the page when Fumi handed it to her, and then she said, "I've received Mikoto-san's permission, and everything seems to be in order so…"

"Wha-But! He… He's a guy!" Mai protested only to be shot down by a grinning Mashiro, "Yes he is, and he has lived with women in the past and done nothing to them."

"Hey, wait up! How do you know about that?" I asked, already fearing the answer.

"Well one of your teachers wrote that two young women were living with you for a few weeks and that although one left, there was one girl who stayed there as well as two who visit frequently and that you helped nurse one of women who visits frequently back to health when she first visited." Fumi said as she returned to her usual spot behind Mashiro.

"Ahh, I and here I thought that Fuji-nee had some discretion." I said as my eye started twitching again. Mashiro just kept smiling and answered, "You seem to be rather well acquainted with Fujimura-sensei, don't you Emiya-san?"

"That is more or less due to the fact that before I came here I had been cooking for her for the past six years." I said as I raised my hands in a defensive manner.

"And the note here about you seducing a nun?" Fumi asked.

"I didn't seduce her, and nothing happened. Fuji-nee just jumped to a conclusion like she usually does." I shot back.

"And the foreign blond girl?"

"I was only helping Saber with some business that she had in Japan."

"And the foreign redhead?"

"Caren brought her to my place when she was near comatose and I helped her recover. There was NO tantric therapy."

"And who might 'Caren' be?"

"The aforementioned nun."

"And the 'twin tailed girl with a snarky reply for everything'?"

"Rin and I are dating, but its not like we're animals…"

"Wait, what?" Mai asked as she looked between me and the team of Mashiro and Fumi.

"They've been fed a bit of false information by my 'guardian,' Fujimura Taiga or the 'Tiger' as her students call her affectionately." I replied with a small smirk, knowing that Fuji-nee somehow knew that I had called her Tiger.

"I see…" Mai trailed off as she gave me a wary look, "Well fine, you can stay with us but you better watch your step!"

"Of course, of course." I replied as I set up my next statement, "So what do you guys want for dinner?"

~}{~

"What just happened?" Mai asked as I milled about the kitchen, cleaning and putting away dishes.

"I don't know Mai, but it was delicious." Mikoto remarked from where she sat at the table, rubbing her stomach. I just smiled and asked, "So do you want me to cook tomorrow as well?"

"I dunno… I like Mai's cooking too…" Mikoto said as she screwed her face up in thought.

"We'll just see tomorrow then." I declared as I prepared to conquer the kitchen.

"Hey, Emiya-san… about earlier, in the infirmary, I'm sorry." Mai mumbled as she looked away. I just looked at her and chuckled, "It's no problem, and everyone has their own set of skeletons in their closet. Anyways, we're teammates in this right? So just call me Shirou."

"I still feel that I owe you Shirou-san, so I may as well tell you why I lashed out. From the beginning I guess, you see back when Takumi and I were kids our parents died in a house fire and because we had no immediate relatives and none of our extended family wanted to take us, we ended up alone. Takumi's had a weak body since he was born, so I've spent a lot of my time in part time jobs trying to look after him. When I found out that I had HiME capabilities and that Fuuka Academy was searching for HiMEs and were willing to pay to school them…" Mai paused giving me a moment sneak in a sentence, "You leapt at the chance, and convinced them that they wouldn't get you without Takumi?"

"Yeah…" Mai trailed off.

"Same thing that I would have done in the same situation." I chuckled, and then continued soberly, "I might as well give you a bit more about myself. I guess I should start at the beginning, but first a question: You ever heard of the Fuyuki city fire?"

"Yeah, it was that giant fire eleven years ago…"

"That's my first memory. There were over five hundred casualties and very few survivors, one being the boy who would later become Emiya Shirou. I was lucky enough that I was adopted by the man who saved me from the fire that day, Emiya Kiritsugu, but he died about two years after the fire. Life continued on and here I am." I concluded and then changed the subject completely, avoiding the awkward silence, "Do you want the shower first?"

"Eh? Um, sure. C'mon Mikoto." Mai said as she and Mikoto went into the bathroom, while I grabbed The Shovel and went outside to deal with the bees that had started to be really loud while I was telling my story. Those bees didn't stand a chance when I slashed the part of the hive that connected it to the roof of the balcony, causing the hive to smash open on the ground releasing a swarm of extremely angry bees. I hadn't planned for that but I rolled with it and started hitting the bees with The Shovel, the bees that were hit were either crushed or had taken to much damage to their brains to function properly. No chance that those bees would get me.

"Shirou-san, you out here?" Mai asked as she poked her head out of the sliding door, only to witness the genocide that I had unleashed upon my insectoid enemies, "What happened out here?"

"The bees attacked me, so I smacked them with The Shovel and then destroyed their hive."

"Did I hear a capital 'S'?"

"Yeah I can talk about any other shovel but when I talk about this one it's 'The Shovel'." I shrugged, and entered the dorm room and rested The Shovel against the wall beside the couch. Mikoto and Mai seemed to be preparing to turn in, while I had a date with the shower.

~}{~

When I exited the bathroom, I shook my head at the sight before me. Mikoto was making a valiant attempt to remove Mai's pajama top while the both of them were asleep; I turned away from the spectacle and was going to swing my vest off of my shoulders when I heard the click of a gun being cocked.

"You're coming with me." Natsuki declared as she held her Element far enough from me to guarantee a hit but not close enough to summon Duran. I hadn't expected her in the least, like the Spanish Inquisition or something.

"Did you recently join the Spanish Inquisition?" I asked as I slipped my vest back onto my shoulders.

"What?"

"Well I wasn't expecting you and you appeared like the Spanish Inquisition."

"What? Whatever, let's go." Natsuki commanded, keeping her Element trained on my head as I grabbed my things and followed her to her motorcycle.

~}{~

"That was the most interesting ride on a vehicle that I have ever had." I remarked as I followed Natsuki into the apartment that she lived in, Natsuki grimaced and turned back to face me, "Never mention that to anyone. Ever."

"I won't if you guarantee never to make a mess like the one before me." I answered as I looked at the pigsty that Natsuki called home. My eye twitched.

"It's fine the way it is. You want something to eat?" Natsuki said as she walked towards what I believed to be her kitchen, but that didn't matter because her apartment was a mess and there was a roar from somewhere in my soul demanding that it be cleaned. The first thing I did was open the window to release the built up stench that the garbage had released, there were bars on the windows but it didn't matter because I could break them if the situation called for it. I began sorting the trash from the clothes and other things but was soon interrupted by Natsuki entering with two cup ramen. (A/N: ramen? Ramens? I don't even know.)

"You know, it really isn't healthy to eat too many of those." I remarked as I gestured to wards the numerous empty cups that once held cup ramen that littered the floor. Natsuki just snorted, "Put mayonnaise on it. Mayonnaise is healthy."

"I'm not going to debate how healthy a food mayonnaise is, but you really shouldn't eat so much junk food." I said as I scanned the room, my distaste growing with every snack food wrapper or container that I saw. I was about to make a remark when something caught my eye. After I had made my way over to it I realized that it was a raggedy looking stuffed… dog, I was about to pick it up when Natsuki grabbed it and cradled it to her chest, "Don't touch it!"

"Ah, sorry. I was only curious." I said as I backed up a bit. Natsuki looked at the stuffed animal and said to me without looking up, "This stuffed dog's name is 'Duran'. It was the last present that my mother gave me…"

"I…" I started to say but was cut off by Natsuki, "My mother was a researcher who pretty much lived to study HiMEs, but one day some unknown HiME broke into the lab and burnt it down. Before she died, my mother gave me her Element, this gun, and told me to escape. I inherited this Element from my mother and intend to use it to avenge her. I think, because the board chairman has been gathering HiMEs, that it's likely that the HiME who killed my mother is somewhere in Fuuka Academy."

Well, it certainly explained why Natsuki was antagonistic of Mai who was a HiME that wielded fire. I had no idea of what to do, had I been dealing with Rin I would have given her a hug but instead I asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Natsuki turned to me, tears in her eyes, and said, "Stay with me. If you're with me then I'll be stronger, so please… stay with me."

At this point Natsuki had drawn herself close to me and looked up at me, "Please?"

It was a simple question when said but it was heavy with implications and I was eternally grateful to Mikoto when she cut the bars on the window that I had opened and burst into the room, Mai climbed in carefully after her.

"We'll be taking Shirou back!" Mikoto declared as she attempted to stare down Natsuki, Mai just asked, "Why'd you kidnap him anyways? And the bars on the windows are really creepy in this context."

"Says the one who broke into my apartment in the dead of night!" Natsuki retaliated.

"Like you didn't break into our room to kidnap Shirou-san in the first place!"

"And the reason that you destroyed my window?"

"I guess that Mikoto wanted to make a dynamic entrance like Shirou-san did this afternoon!"

"That and Mashiro promised us cake if we let him stay with us, and Shirou is a good cook too!" Mikoto declared. At least she was honest in her motivations.

"Slave-kun said that he'd rather stay with me then in a room that he had trouble being in due to those blimps that you carry around with you!" Natsuki yelled at Mai, ignoring Mikoto completely.

"Wh- Blimps? Wait that doesn't matter! He's coming with us!" Mai declared.

"You think that I'd let you!" Natsuki growled as she let off a shot, nearly grazing Mikoto's neck. Mai activated her Element and asked, "You really want to fight don't you?"

"Damn right I do!" Natsuki answered as I walked towards the two and in an attempt to broker peace said, "Now now, let's all calm down…"

"WHO DO YOU LIKE BETTER?" Mai and Natsuki shouted at me, as they turned towards me causing my hands to come into contact with their Elements.

Let's just say that anyone looking at Natsuki's apartment that night saw a robot wolf sitting on a dragon's snout, while anyone in the apartments above or below it had various parts of Kagutsuchi's body breaking into their homes.

~}{~

The next morning I sat at the table with Mikoto, Natsuki, the newest addition to our, room and Mai, who had woken up while I was training and made breakfast.

And here I thought that my life would have some semblance of normality while I was attending Fuuka Academy.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Mighty Storm and An End to Jokes

By: Alex T. Wallman

Disclaimer: I still own neither of them, Doods.

Author's Note: This chapter is the first chapter where Shirou gets serious and there will be Orphan corpses everywhere, but seriously this chapter is the first chapter where Shirou gets full blown, murderous angry and he is not going to be happy with a number of people.

Review Corner!

To those who reviewed: thank you, and please continue to do so at your leisure.

Nasha Rei-kun: I did not lie to you in any manner; you just didn't interpret what happened properly. I never intended to hide the fact that Miu would be joining Shirou's harem.

DHWGDragonblade: Ea was forged from a FALLEN STAR. What is the Princess STAR? A FALLEN STAR. Just explaining that to you, no offense intended. The explanation given by Nasu in Angel Notes is that each and every planet possesses a Supreme Reality Marble and that the Supreme Reality Marble known as 'Earth' belongs to 'Gaia' as such any substance from beyond that is considered as substance from beyond the 'mortal plane'.

Kamigawa Nagamaki: I know about Shirou's Blu-ray player (and Rin's inability to use it.) and Archer's less then satisfactory attempts to instruct Rin in its usage.

Vandenbz: Thank you for the offer; I shall deliberate upon the subject.

Angry Santo: Thank you for your support and as for the Excalibeam, I named it the Excalibeam to show that, although similar, it is lesser to the Excaliblast in power. This is due to the energy weapon scale of power; it means that the energy type given in the description or name can determine an energy weapon's power level. The scale so far is: ray, laser, burst, beam, and then blast.

dragon-cloud16: I'm glad you enjoy the idea of Fate/HiME, as for this Shirou meeting the Shirous from The Hill Of Swords and In Flight I would love to do that but I would first get permission from Gabriel Blessing. So far as Shirou seeing Arondight in the dream cycle, I don't know if he did so I'm assuming that he hasn't and as such is unable to trace it.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed even if you weren't mentioned in the author's note.

As always, please read, enjoy, and review!

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS HAM AND LOUD VOICES!

~}{~

I chuckled as Natsuki and Mai strode through the door of the class, bickering with one another over Natsuki's bathing habits and the amount of time they consume. I was lucky that I was able to get into the bathroom before them this morning, well that, and manage not to be late. Seriously, how did they manage it?

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." A voice to my left remarked, I turned and answered, "Well, it's not like I was involved in their shenanigans today Kurachi-san."

"Really? I thought you lived with them…" The young man, Kurachi Kazuya, muttered.

"Oh, we live in the same room all right, it's just that I have the upper hand when it comes to waking up early." I confessed with a chuckle, we were then interrupted by to of the girls in our class. Harada and Senou I think their names were.

"Hey, Emiya-san the wife and mistress are fighting, isn't it your job to fix this sort of problem?" Harada asked while Senou asked, "But which is the wife and which is the mistress?"

"So far as I know the only relationship I have with either of them is that of roommates and teammates, since when did the relationship between any of the three of us go up to such a level?" I asked, my eyebrows quirked quizzically. Harada was about to reply when the classroom door slammed open.

"TOKIHA MAI! KUGA NATSUKI! EMIYA SHIROU! BOW YOUR HEADS AND PREPARE FOR YOUR PUNISHMENT FOR YOUR UNRULINESS, YOU DELINQUENTS!" The student who had burst through the door shouted into the room. Natsuki and Mai were not listening and seemed to have moved on to arguing about Natsuki's poor cleaning habits. I just chuckled and told her, "Good luck trying to get the two of them to stop fighting, the only time I managed that was when I announced dinner was ready and even then they found something to fight about soon after."

"HOW DARE THEY IGNORE AN UPPERCLASSMEN! IT MUST BE YOUR FAULT, YOU CREATOR OF DELINQUENTS!" The young woman declared as she pointed at me and then continued, "YOU'RE A GUY, BUT YOU LIVE IN THE FEMALE DORMS! YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY TRYING TO CORRUPT THE FEMALE HALF OF THE STUDENT BODY! AND TO TOP IT OFF YOU'RE KNOWN AS A PERVERTED BEAST WHO IS FAMED THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL FOR HIS WISH TO FORNICATE WITH EVERY FEMALE HE LAY EYES ON!"

"Um, I have no such plan to corrupt any of the student body, I'm living in the female dorms because of the board chairman's decision, and the 'perverted beast' title was one given to me by other's before I even understood the circumstances. I find your accusations to be insulting and uncalled for, please repeal them." I told the young woman who vetoed the idea to continue cursing me. I took the opportunity to leave for P.E. when she closed her eyes and started shouting.

~}{~

After school, I found myself in the chairman's office, helping Fumi but up a banner that read '31st(32nd) Orphan Resistance Reflection Meeting and welcome new teacher'. After Fumi and I had put the banner in place, she gave me a nod and then moved to stand behind Mashiro while I leaned against the side of the couch. As I turned towards Mashiro, the grade schooler began her lecture, "Now, while it is wonderful that we have discovered Tokiha-san's and Kuga-san's Key we have the issue of the sheer amount of damage wrought by you all over the past few days. There's the damage to the pool, the blatant environmental destruction, the damage to the boys' dormitory, the damage to Kuga-san's apartment, and, well, damage to pretty much every other facility as well. We will need to come up with plans to keep such damage from happening."

"While it's wonderful that with each battle the duration that it takes for the Orphan to be defeated is decreasing, the damage to surrounding buildings appears to be inversely proportional." Yoko mused as she studied a sheet on her clipboard that was probably some form of graph. I assumed that Natsuki was skipping the meeting or that something had come up. Mashiro then piped up, her smile never faltering as she delivered some very harsh words, "Even with the great addition of the enormous combat capabilities of the Childs, and the fact that the frequency of Orphan attacks is increasing it means that by all consideration the extent of this damage is… acceptable."

I shuddered at those words and gave a slight chuckle as I remembered the damage caused to various buildings during the Grail War. The sheer overall devastation was incredible and most likely cost a fortune to repair so I had some frame with which to estimate the damage done. While I reminisced, Yoko muttered something about it being more troublesome for us to function without a leader, who, according to the white board that held everyone in the unit's status, was on a trip. Based on my own observations the unit's main problem was that our teamwork was really shitty, what with the differences in ability and the lack of cooperation displayed. I was ripped out of my musing by the door slamming open and the girl from this morning striding through yelling, "UNACCEPTABLE! YOU LET THEM OFF WITH ONLY A LIGHT SCOLDING, YET THEY ARE THE ORPHAN RESICTANCE UNIT WHO ARE CHARGED WITH PROTECTING THE CAMPUS AND BUT THEY DESTROY MORE OF IT THEN ANY ORPHAN! IT IS SIMPLY UNACCEPTABLE! IT IS AS UNACCEPTABLE AS SOMEONE FORNICATING IN PUBLIC, OR MURDERING SOMEONE WITH A CROSS, OR SHOOTING A FAMED CHILDREN'S HERO IN FRONT OF A CROWD OF CHILDREN!"

We all turned and stared at the nigh hysterical teen as she ranted and raved about how we were low grade, and I think she referenced Saint Seiya and Gundam during her rant. All in all, I found the majority of it rather funny. Mashiro was the first one to speak to her, "Oh, and do you have an idea Suzushiro-san?"

"THE CURRENT ORPHAN RESISTANCE UNIT SHOULD BE DISBANDED AND THE STUDENT COUNCIL EXECUTIVE SHALL FORM A GROUP OF TOP GRADE HiMES: HiME THE ORIGIN, ABBREVIATED TO THE ORI-HiME UNIT THAT SHALL BE ENTRUSTED WITH ALL ORPHAN EXTERMINATION! I, SUZUSHIRO HARUKA, WILL OF COURSE BE THE LEADER!" Haruka declared, a group of HiME who somehow managed to stay cloaked in shadow gathering behind her as she struck a pose. She snapped her fingers and one of the HiMEs stepped out of the shadow revealing herself to be Natsuki and I didn't actually feel too torn up about it because it was most likely that Suzushiro or some other Student Council Executive had agreed to give her information that could lead her to the HiME who killed her mother, plus after Archer's betrayal nothing could really shock me like that again especially considering Archer's goal. Suzushiro snapped her fingers, pointed at Natsuki, and announced, "AND SAY HELLO TO OUR NEWEST MEMBER!"

Mai and most of the others were shocked and/or outraged by Natsuki's decision to join the Ori-HiME and surged to their feet calling her name, I instead began chuckling. Suzushiro rounded on me for the second time that day, "AND WHAT IS SO FUNNY?"

"It's just that everyone is all so worked up about this new group you're starting but it comes down to simple logic. The Ori-HiME unit presented Natsuki with something she found that the current Orphan Resistance Unit couldn't provide and therefore she joined it, you and your other comrades either didn't agree with how the Orphan Resistance Unit did things or felt that they weren't doing things in a manner that agreed with you or your ideals. What you did was simply human, if you guys turn out to do a better job than we do then I would be more than willing to join or fuse the groups." I stated with a bitter smile forming on my lips as I realized that I had just taken a step closer to being Archer, from doing anything to achieve my goals to betraying my friends, damn it that guy is a horrible influence. I stood up, grabbed the Shovel, and moved to the door, "I'm leaving. Mai, dinner's in your hands tonight. I'll be back later."

"Oh, look at this! Back in Japan after a while and who do I see but an old friend!" A familiar voice called out from the wall to my right, I turned to the redheaded woman and said, "Bazett Fraga McRemitz, what are you doing here?"

"Well, the old bloodsucker told me that there was a job for an English teacher here so I took it." Bazett shrugged, and the translation is that Zelretch told her that there was something worth looking into here and may require the attention of an Enforcer and the way I saw it the geezer was right to think so. I snorted, "Hmph, he always was a meddler. See ya."

I left the school building at a restrained pace and once I was clear of the building I veered into the woods and broke out into a run. I ran until I reached a clearing that seemed to be relatively far from the school and the dorms, dropped the Shovel, and traced Bakuya and Kanshou into my hands. I swung Bakuya high and stabbed Kanshou below; I twisted my right arm and brought Bakuya down diagonally while I wrenched Kanshou back. I continued working out, swinging Bakuya and Kanshou until my arms ached but I still didn't stop. I needed to clear my head and I wanted to stab Archer. I continued to practice with Bakuya and Kanshou until the moon was high in the sky and my arms felt like they were going to fall off. I turned when I heard the sound of clapping.

"It's been a while since I've seen you with sword in hand Shirou, but as usual it is a sight." Bazett said as she approached from the woods behind me, she crossed her arms under her chest and asked, "I know that you aren't all right, and I had them explain to me as to what happened in the meeting so I'm going to tell you now: even if you're determined to fight alone I won't let you. You told me what Archer told you, so I know just as well as you do that for your future to become his past you would need to scorn any attempts for others to fight beside you and never have anyone around who understands you. Rin won't let that happen and neither will I so stop your goddamn angsting and tell me what you know about these Orphans!"

I couldn't help it, Bazett had just said something so horribly cheesy that I ended up laughing, "Thanks, Bazett-san. Snrk, yup definitely feeling better. You wanted to know about the Orphans, right? Based on what I've observed, they have a form that's centered around a single eye and from there they differ in all aspects except that they leak prana like a broken pipe leaks water. No way to really tell anything more without an in depth analysis but I'm a third rate magus who is currently without a workshop so I have no way to properly get any sort of information from them other then what I can tell from visual analysis."

"I figured as much. I know of someone in the area who could probably do a great job analysing an Orphan but she would need a sample and I technically can't approach her without trying to drag her to the Clock Tower. So basically I'm telling you to collect some of The Orphan from the next time one attacks, and then I'll contact her and you'll deliver the sample." Bazett declared as she turned to leave and then froze, I followed her line of sight and also froze. Mikoto was ineffectually hiding behind a bush and every few moments she would duck down into the bush and then peek back out, as if she thought that we wouldn't notice her if she tried hard enough. I don't know how long the silence stretched but I eventually broke it, "Mikoto, how long have you been in that bush?"

Mikoto yelped like a startled puppy and jumped up to her full height, looking about a few times, and then answering dejectedly, "The whole conversation."

"WHAT? All right, Shirou we need to kill her. Where's a good place to dump a body?" Bazett asked me as she started freaking out, but I already had it covered and said, "Mikoto, if you swear to never tell anyone what you heard here I will bake you a cake and cook some of the best food that you will have ever eaten. Deal?"

Mikoto nodded her head like a bobble head in an earthquake and said, "DEAL!"

Problem solved.

~}{~

The next day found me charging out of the high school building towards the elementary school building where I had smelled the overpowering stench of well the best way I could describe it was that it smelled like a lizard or rather the mental image I got when I tried visualize it was the image of a diplodocus. I had to dodge out of Bazett's class and if it weren't for the fact that I was going to hunt down an Orphan, I knew that she would have kicked my ass. I had the Shovel gripped in my right hand as I turned the corner to the battlefield and found the Ori-HiME unit all ready in combat with the Orphan. I jumped in front of a girl who a stray attack would have hit and then charged in to the battle. I ran forward, ducking under the wild swiping of the Orphan and dug the Shovel into its arm as it passed over me. I jerked back from it just as it let out a pained howl and collapsed, now that I got a good look at it the Orphan resembled a fusion of a few dinosaurs such as a stegosaurus. I heard the girl with glasses that usually hung out with Haruka reporting the damages to her and from what they were saying there were none. Haruka said to her from her perch atop the Orphan's back, "EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE! HOW LONG WAS THE BATTLE?"

"Today's battle had a duration of one minute and thirty two point six three seconds." The girl reported as she studied a tablet in her hands to which Haruka responded with a hearty laugh. I wasn't laughing though, I was shaking with rage because as I looked around and saw how many people had been injured. Most of them had been injured by the Orphan while it was obvious that some of them had been injured by stray attacks. My blood was boiling and even though I wasn't nearly as angry as I had been when I had fought Archer or when Gilgamesh had mocked Saber's sacrifice, I was pissed off. I marched over to Haruka and shouted, "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? ISN'T IT THE JOB OF THE UNITS TO PROTECT THE OTHER STUDENTS FROM HARM? WHY THE HELL ARE SO MANY PEOPLE INJURED?"

I nearly punched Haruka in the face when she smirked at me and said, "It doesn't really matter if people get hurt because they will eventually heal, what are more important are the buildings which reminds me, Yukino what is the damage to nearby structures?"

The others had arrived and heard Haruka's declaration but I wasn't paying attention to that nor was I paying attention to Yukino's damage report, what I was paying attention to was what Natsuki said to me, "The damage here was minimal, and in terms of efficiency the longer a battle lasts, the more damage it causes. You should join the Ori-HiME unit as well, Shirou. It'll be an improvement compared to the current unit"

I didn't care about Haruka's grumbling about me being invited nor did I care about the looks everyone was giving me. I looked Natsuki in the eye and said, "The day I join a group that looks at people as things that are worth less then buildings will be the day when Kotomine Kirei isn't a douche bag. So you can take that offer and SHOVE IT WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE!"

I turned and walked away, pausing only to punch a tree with my still reinforced left hand. The bark around where my fist had hit the tree shattered and left an imprint of my fist. I walked back to my classroom and sat down, I was going to come up with a plan to bring down the Ori-HiME unit.

~}{~

Happy New Years.


End file.
